Registration control methods and devices



June 27, 1961 w. MELVILLE REGISTRATION CONTROL METHODS AND DEVICES Filed Dec. 23, 1957 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 im m IH HHHHNWIK din u R\ Q INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY June 1961 w. MELVILLE 2,990,173

REGISTRATION CONTROL METHODS AND DEVICES Filed Dec. 23, 1957 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEY June 27, 1961 w. MELVlLLE 2,990,173

REGISTRATION CONTROL METHODS AND DEVICES Filed Dec. 25, 1957 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 BY If A W ATTORNEY June 27, 1961 w. MELVILLE 2,990,173

REGISTRATION CONTROL METHODS AND DEVICES Filed. Dec. 23, 1957 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 54 54 INVENTOR.

WW AK M ATTORNEY 2,990,173 REGISTRATION CONTROL METHODS AND DEVICES Wilbur Melville, 612 Bloomfield Ave., Clifton, NJ. Filed Dec. 23, 1957, Ser. No. 704,666 4 Claims. (Cl. 27052) My invention relates generally to registration control methods and devices and specifically to registration control methods and devices wherein a plurality of sheets are laminated together with their respective edges in coincidence with each other.

It is an object of my device and method to produce laminar structures having perfect edge registration.

It is an object of my device and method to provide a web-steering mechanism which is directed by a sensing device; and the spatial position of the sensing device with respect to the web that it governs is varied in response to the movement of the web to be included in the lamination.

It is an object of my device and method to cause a primary web to mechanically vary the position of a sensing device which controls a steering mechanism for a secondary web.

It is yet a further object of my device and method to avoid wastage of material due to poor registration of laminae.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a corrugated board whose laminae are in perfect registration with each other.

Yet a further object of my invention is to avoid the necessity for the intervention of human agencies to govern the highly inaccurate registration control which results from present automatic sensing devices.

Yet a further object of my invention is to provide automatic registration control at the point of application of the second liner.

These objects and advantages, as well as other objects and advantages, may be achieved from the devices and methods illustrated in the drawings in which:

FIGURE 1A is a chart showing the general organization of the first stage of a corrugating-laminating operation;

FIGURE 1B is a chart constituting a continuation of FIGURE 1A showing the general organization of the second stage of a corrugating-laminating operation;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view of my registration control device;

FIGURE 3 is a top plan view thereof; and

FIGURE 4 is a front elevational view thereof.

Corrugated board may be a corrugated medium or sheet with either a top liner or face, or both top and bottom liners or faces. The former is referred to as single face, and the latter as double face. A sheet is corrugated by being fed between two fluted, hot rollers and a top liner is glued on, under heat and high pressure. The product is the single face. A bottom liner is then glued on under heat and pressure, which pres sure is not great enough to compress or flatten the crrugations. The product is the double face. Unless precise registration of lamination is practiced, the misaligned portion will be great, and trimming of the useless misaligned portion Will result in enormous waste. Constant monitoring of automatic registration control is resorted to in order to reduce waste to a low point. The vice of poor registration generates another vice-the trimming operation tends to marginally flatten the corrugations and thereby weakens the board.

Ordinarily, sensing devices detect the migrations and vagaries of movement of the laminae and direct them toward an ideal chosen normal course. A period of lag in steering produces poor registration. Over-compensa- Patented June 27, 1961 4;: tion produces poor registration. When two laminations move toward each other by virtue of the sensers steering them toward the norm, they frequently, by sheer momentum, overshoot the norm. This constant norm seeking of laminations produces a perpetual weaving or norm seeking, and during most of the time, registration is either approaching or receding. The present invention achieves a much more complete approach to perfect registration by discarding the concept of directing laminations to seek a certain ideal, normal course, but rather adopts the principle of directing the secondary web to follow the vagaries and migrations of the primary web immediately prior to the point of lamination. Much more precise registration is thereby achieved.

The present invention provides more precise registration at the point of application of the second liner to the single face because the position of the heat rollers and pressure rollers makes observation of existing conditions of registration diflicult. Human control is dependent on good observation, and must necessarily be inadequate because observation is impossible. Control must therefore be solely automatic.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, a sheet 11, disposed in a roll is led over an idler 12, and over a pair of steering rollers 13. The sheet 11 is then led over another idler 14 and on between two fluted, hot steel rollers 15, 16. This first sheet 11, is referred to as the medium and acquires a corrugated form. Glue is applied to the tips of the corrugations of the corrugated sheet 11 by the roller 17. A second sheet 18, referred to as the first liner is disposed in roll form and is led over the idlers 19, 19, 19 and over the pressure roll 20, which brings it into contact with the corrugated medium 11. This contact takes place when the medium 11 is still engaged with the fluted lower corrugating roller 16. High heat and strong pressure characterizes this contact and the product is a sheet of singleface 21 which is the corrugated medium 11 adhered to the second sheet or first liner 18. The single-face 21 is then led over a series of idlers 22, finally contacting the glue application roller 23. It then is led between a pair of guide rollers 24, disposed in endvvise contact only.

A third sheet 25, disposed in a roll, is led over an idler 26 and then over a steering roller 27. Next the third sheet 25, or second liner, feeds over the idler 28 and over the hot steel plates 29, at the same time meeting the feeding single-face 21, to Which on its corrugated tips, the glue has been applied. As the single face 21 and the second liner 25, feed over the plates 29, steel rollers 30 press them together. The rollers 30 are hot. The result-ant laminated product is the double-face corrugated board.

The corrugated board passes between trimming knives 31, and is cut into lengths of chosen size by the cutting knives 32. The position of the medium sheet 11 is governed by the sensing nozzle 33, and indirectly the control unit 34, which governs the work cylinder 3-5, which in turn controls the steering rollers 13.

Edge position controls are well known and are items of standard manufacture. The sensing nozzle 33 consists of two slotted members disposed on opposite sides of the web to be controlled. A low pressure stream of air is blown from one slot to the other. When no web is intruded between the slots, about one-half of the air pressure may be recovered by the second slot. As the web is progressively intruded between the slots, this maximum recovery pressure is reduced until the web cuts it off entirely. The regulator 34 receives the recovery pressure as it varies from maximum to zero, and converts it into pneumatic or hydraulic force to operate a work cylinder in this manner. The recovered pressure is exterted on a diaphragm which is connected to a. pivoted oil discharge jet. Oil is continuously discharged from this jet toward two distributor holes connected to opposite sides of the Work cylinder. As the recovered pressure varies in response to the position of the web, the diaphragm is actua-ted and diverts the oil to one or the other of the ends of the work cylinder. The work cylinder then actuates the steering rollers 13 to shift the web in response to the dictates of the position of the webll as it moves between the senser 33. Thus, the steering rollers 13 tend to constantly vary in response to the position of the web 11 at the senser 33 and to urge the web 1-1 toward a normal course position. But the senser 33 is not stationary, but is mounted on a shifting support which will be hereinafter described. This shifting support is governed as to its position by the wanderings of the first liner.

The first liner 18 is ungoverned by guide rollers and wanders in accordance with the stresses exerted upon it as it is fed over the idlers 19, '19, 19. The sensings nozzle 36 responds to the position of the first liner 18 and actuates the regulator 37. The regulator 37 receives the recovery pressure and converts it into hydraulic or pneumatic force to operate the work cylinder 38.

The work cylinder 33 moves the sensing nozzle 36 to a position corresponding with the normal position of the first liner 18. The sensing nozzle 36 is mechanically linked to the sensing nozzle 33 and in vertical alignment therewith. Thus, the sensing nozzle 33 is moved by the nozzle 36 so that it is always at a normal position of perfect registration with respect to the first liner 18. If the medium 11 does not position itself in perfect registration with the first liner 18, it will be beyond the normal position in the sensing nozzle 33 which moves in correspondence with the sensing nozzle 36. The sensing nozzle 33 then activates the regllator 34 and the regulater 34 operates the work cylinder 35. The work cylinder 35 then operates the steering rollers 13 and they guide the medium into registration with the first liner 18.

The registration of the single face 21 and the second liner 25 is governed by an assemblage responsive to the edge position of the single face 21. A lower arm 51 is attached to the corrugating apparatus at a point prior to the lamination of the second liner 25. A 'pair of side plates 52, 52 are pivotally mounted on a shaft 53 on the lower arm 51. Springs 54 normally urge the side plates 52 to a vertical position. The side plates 52, 52 are pivotally secured to an upper arm 55. The parallelism of the upper arm 55 with the lower arm 51 is maintained by the tie rods 56.

At the end of the upper arm 55, a sensing nozzle assembly 49, consisting of a pressure nozzle 57 and a recovery nozzle 58, is mounted. Immediately above the sensing nozzle assembly, a guide roller 24 is rotatably mounted with its contact face 60 disposed in the same vertical plane as the center line of the sensing nozzle assembly. When the single face 21, is engaged with the contact face 60, the yieldably mounted guide roller 24 responds to the deviations of the single face 21 and the cooperatively mounted sensing nozzle assembly 49 moves in correspondence to the single face 21. If by chance, the second liner 25 is in substantial registration and is moving in the same direction, the assembly 49 will not signal for any correction. If, however, the second liner 25 is moving in a contrary direction, the sensing nozzle assembly 49 will activate the regulator 61 and the work cylinder 62 will operate the steering roller 27 to steer the second liner 25 into registration with the single face 21 at the point where they pass over the idler 28.

If the single face 21 is formed of relatively light material which might be deformed .hy the contact face 60, a plurality of guide rollers 24 may be used to distribute the stress over a greater edge area.

Where the second liner is applied, observation of the registration is drastically limited by the presence of heating rollers and pressure rollers. In the conventional laminating operation, monitoring there by human intervention and automatic controls becomes difficult if not impossible. With my floating senser, control is precise and intervention of the human agency is not necessary.

The use of a sensing nozzle on the single face is impossible because the glue on the single face soon would clog this third senser. By setting up an assembly responsive to the edge position of the single face, the guide roller 24, which responds to the position of the edge of the single face and is not impaired in its functions by glue applied to the single face, a mechanically responsive mounting for the senser 49 is provided wihch is not in contact with the single face 21 and cannot be impaired by the glue applied thereto. This senser 49 steers the second liner 25 into registration with the single face 21 at the point of lamination.

The guide roller 24 lies in the same vertical plane as the senser 49. Any lateral displacement of the guide roller 24 by the edge of the single face 21, will likewise carry with it the senser 49. The roller 24 and senser assemblage 49 are in permanent vertical alignment regardless of lateral displacement brought about by the edge of the single face 21, since they are both mounted on the upper arm 55 which must always move in parallelism to the lower arm 51 which is horizontal.

The foregoing description is merely intended to illustrate an embodiment of the invention. 1" he component parts have been shown and described. They each may have substitutes which may perform a substantially similar function; such substitutes may be known as proper substitutes for the said components and may have actually been known or invented before the present invention; these substitutes are contemplated as being within the scope of the appended claims, although they are not specifically catalogued herein.

I claim:

1. A registration control device comprising a first and a second web, means for leading the webs toward a point of lamination with each other, a means for steering the second web into registration with the first web, a roller in engagement with the edge of the first web, a senser responsive to the edge position of the second web and operably connected to the steering means for the second web, a mounting for both the roller and the senser defining a rigid connection from the roller to the senser, the mounting responsive to movement of the first web to or from the roller, and a spring normally urging the roller into engagement with the edge of the web.

2. The registration control device according to claim 1, and the roller and senser disposed in vertical registration with each other.

3. The registration control device according to claim 1, and means to maintain the mounting vertically and the roller and senser in vertical registration as the roller responds to the movement of the first web.

4. A registration control device comprising a roller, a senser, a mounting for the roller and senser, the roller and senser attached to the mounting the one above the other in the same vertical plane, the mounting, roller, and senser yieldably movable horizontally through a plurality of vertical planes, each plane in parallelism with the others, and a first web in edgewise engagement with the roller, a second web disposed in sensing relation to the senser, a spring normally urging the roller into en- References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Tayman Mar. 15, 1932 6 Lister et a1 Sept. 5, 1950 Crafts Sept. 12, 1950 Strauss et a1. Dec. 19, 1950 McCleary et a1. June 9, 1953 Teplitz Jan. 29, 1957 Medkefl Nov. 26, 1957 

